Laney Lovrovich brings a calm leadership to Seahawks’ volleyball team

After a 2018 season that saw a turnaround in the program where they brought everything back to basics, the Peninsula High School girls volleyball team is continuing that trend into 2019.

The Seahawks are following the philosophy of coach Katrina Cardinal by becoming a more energetic team on the court and focusing on the basics during the match.

This new but old foundation has helped the Seahawks out a lot as they are off to a 8-1 start, two games better than where they were a year ago and in second place in the 3A South Sound Conference.

“The past few years, we haven’t been a high energy team because that was not where our focus was,” said Laney Lovrovich. “But then this year at our tournament at Washington [High School], she said we need to switch and be an energy team this year because we are going to beat teams.”

Lovrovich is a junior outside hitter, and even though she really likes that energy her team is bringing to every match, she is cementing herself as a more calm presence.

On the court, coach Cardinal wants her players to act and play as firecrackers with the up tempo energy. However, Lovrovich puts her focus on where the ball needs to go for the offense to score.

“My role is to [off of the first contact] get a good enough pass for our setters to be able to set up our hitters,” she said. “It all starts off of a good pass. So if you can get a good pass, you can run an effective offense.”

This season, Lovrovich has put more focus and practice into defensive servicing. In order for the Seahawks’ offense to run as smoothly as it wants, Lovrovich and a few other outside hitters are perfecting their passing techniques during practice.

While on the court during matches, Lovrovich keeps her mind on what she has been doing for years and reminds herself on the little things she’s been coached on.

“I guess I’ve been playing for so many years that I try to stay calm and focused on what I’ve been doing,” she said. “It’s hard to think of every little detail, but I remind myself of little things as I go along. It helps me stay calm.”

Lovrovich’s volleyball career began watching her mom, Ann, coach at Peninsula. It grew into a big passion for her as she would often ask to being playing.

However, her mom held her off from starting to play until Lovrovich hit the fifth grade and entered her daughter into club volleyball.

“My mom used to coach at Peninsula and all growing up, I told her that I wanted to play volleyball,” she said. “She wouldn’t let me because she didn’t want me to feel burned out by the time I got to high school. She made me wait until [then] and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Lovrovich currently plays for the Lake Tapps Volleyball club outside of her role on the Seahawks as well. Even though there are different people on the court, the vibe and feelings are largely the same as if it were playing for her school.

Playing for her school has given Lovrovich a bond between her and her teammates that extends past the court as well.

They all often hang out with each other, are in the same classes and even have dinner together after long days of practicing and playing.

All of this is built into their team motto this year: Road to the Dome.

“We are really focusing on our game on Thursday against Capital,” she said. “If we can do well in that, we are hoping to finish at the top of the league. And if we do that, we want to do well at districts, then to state … Everything we do is helping us lead up to that.”

The Seahawks will try to keep their hot start alive and fight for a spot on top of the SSC against first place Capital as they take the court at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 at Capital High School.

This story was originally published October 24, 2019 at 6:00 AM.